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ONE SEASON WONDERS: A League of Their Own

On Wednesdays, I take a look at a show that lasted one season or less. This week, with the Amazon adaptation coming later this year, I am taking a look at 1993's A League of Their Own!

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN












April 10, 1993 - August 13, 1993
5 episodes
CBS

Starring: Sam McMurray, Carey Lowell, Christine Elise, Tracy Nelson, Megan Cavanagh, Tracy Reiner, Wendy Makkena, Katie Rich
Created by: Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel

Plot: Based on the 1992 film of the same name, Jimmy Dugan (McMurray) is a coach of female baseball players during World War II who are playing because all the men are overseas. This includes Betty (Reiner) who lost her husband in the War, Dottie (Lowell) who is returning to the team and Dottie's younger sister, Kit (Elise) among many others.

Brief Pilot Review:
I know this might be sacrilegious but I have never seen the movie A League of Their Own. I've always thought the premise was interesting, I just am not a big movies guy and there's tons of iconic movies that I can win games of "Never Have I Ever" with. I'm guessing there were a lot of similarities to the film especially with some returning characters (including guest stars Jon Lovitz and Garry Marshall). But I also know that Tom Hanks played the Coach and Nick Offerman is playing the role in the upcoming Amazon series. I don't put Sam McMurray anywhere near the same level as Hanks or Offerman. He has had some funny moments in other series but as a focal point in this series, he is not dynamic enough or funny enough.

The women seemed to have a pretty good rapport but I think the series at once expected everyone to know the movie while also catering too much to fans of the movie. They didn't focus on the girls as much as I thought they would instead focusing specifically on recruiting Dottie back to the team. At the same time, they felt the need to include Lovitz and Marshall for large parts of the episode to remind everyone of the film. In fact, Lovitz was perhaps more of a catalyst for the story than McMurray. So the show couldn't decide how much it wanted to associate itself with the film and sent mixed signals. That was a big problem. The natural strength of the premise helped some but I can imagine this paled in comparison for fans of the film.

What Went Wrong:
A League of Their Own was a critical and commercial success in theaters in 1992 so it was no surprise that a network tried to create a TV version of it, especially because its premise lends itself to being an on-going series. It was a fairly recent movie too as the video was on top of the video rentals around the time the TV series debuted. Although the series was missing some of the stars like Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell, they were not without some of the film talent. Megan Cavanagh and Tracy Reiner reprised their roles from the film, the director (Penny Marshall) directed the pilot episode, the writers of the film wrote the first two episodes and, as mentioned, Jon Lovitz and Garry Marshall also appeared in the pilot episode.

A League of Their Own was given a tough Saturday night slot. However, it was airing at 9pm after Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman - which was a breakout midseason hit for CBS that season. It was paired with Brooklyn Bridge, another period comedy and one that had a lot of critical acclaim but couldn't find an audience no matter where it was placed. Reviews were generally decent although most noted it didn't get to the level of the film. It was also a little jarring with a laugh track in certain scenes (the ones filmed on a soundstage instead of the baseball field). It lasted just three weeks on Saturdays before both League and Brooklyn were pulled from the lineup. Two episodes were burned off in the summer and then it was gone. The film has remained beloved though which is why Amazon is trying again with a TV version of the property.

Tomorrow: A look at Season 6 (Part 1) of Perfect Strangers!
Next Wednesday: A One Season Wonder look at 704 Hauser!
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